The Benefits of Good Hearing
The most valuable audio engineer tool is unimpeded hearing.
Critical listening expresses or involves an analysis of the merits and faults of music and is an ability to judiciously compare one sound to another, perceiving individual components and nuance that contribute to an overall 'global' sound.
As with musicians, audio engineering brings many health benefits through making sense of sound and includes improving brain development, attention, memory, multitasking ability, motor skills, reaction times and reducing the onset of dementia. Precariously, too much audio exposure can negate many of these amazing benefits.
Good News!!!
50% of musicians and 43% of audio engineers have found ways to work in a noisy industry without experiencing hearing damage!
… every system has limits
Hearing / Listener Fatigue (TTS)
- occurs from listening to audio at high volumes,
- is affected by elevated body temperatures, as in those who exercise,
- occurs faster when the listener has some prior hearing damage,
- when the hair cells that translate a particular frequency die, the brain needs to work harder to process incoming information, making reaction times slower,
- may increase for in-ear monitor (IEM) wearers and monitor engineers who wear headphones or earphones. Blocking the ear canal and creating a pressure chamber dampens sounds, making them appear to be not as loud as they are, and
- artefacts left by audio processing (e.g. high compression), or distortion also increase the brain processing required.
Can We Prepare Our Ears For High SPLs?
Some would say there is no way to prepare hearing mechanisms for loud sounds without hearing protection. Sound contains a potential for damage.
We could liken loud sounds to putting our hand over a flame. Our hand is not naturally designed to cope with being over an open flame. If our hand is far enough away or we only have exposure for an extremely short time, we may be safe enough. By wearing appropriate protection, we can also be exposed for longer periods.
Managing Hearing Fatigue Preparing to Mix
- To minimise hearing fatigue and prepare for critical listening:
- schedule rest periods without earplugs or headphones,
- wear hearing protection on planes and other noisy vehicles or environments, and
- minimise the time exposed to high SPL.